Fastener feed construction



.lime l5, 1965 F. w. MULLANEY FAsTEnER FEED consnucuon Filed May 9, 1962 INVENTOR. kAA/K W MULLAA/EV BY Y Wlan, flmintLL/Huwmdl/w Arme/Jsvs United States Patent O 3,189,226 a FASTENER FEED CNS'IRUCTION l Frank W. Mullaney, Villa Park, Ill., assignor to Fastener Corporation, Franklin Park, ill., a corporation of rumors p Filed May 9, 1962 Ser. No. 194,747 9 Claims. (Cl. fm1- 176) The present invention relates to a fastener feed construction, and more particularly, to a magazine construction and fastener advancing mechanism for use with a fastener driving device which is capable of storing and supplying a large number of fasteners to the fastener driving device Iwithout stopping to reload.

Existing power-operated staple driving equipment affords easily manipulated and rapidly opera-tingmeans for driving fasteners into varying types of workpieces at high speeds. Fastener driving devices, such as staple driving apparatus, conventionally include a driver and some means for'reciprocating the driver in a drive track. Staples in the form of sticks or strips of detachably joined fasteners are supplied to the drive track and the staples are sequentially severed lfrom the stick during the driving operation to drive the staple into the workpiece. Some form of magazine is provided for holding a number of staples and successively feeding them into the drive track for engagement by the driver during its driving stroke.

Conventionally the magazine supports the supply stick or strip of staples for movement along a track in a path perpendicular to the path of movement of the driver during its driving stroke. In any case, the magazine generally moves the staples along a track which intersects the path of movement of the driver at a right angle. Power-operated staple driving devices are readily adaptable for use on assembly lines and other production application and are frequently used for rapid repetitive driving of staples so that a large number of staples is rapidly driven or dispensed from the staple .driving device. Accordingly, it is desirable that the storage or bin section of the magazine have a relatively large capacity so that an operator may keep the stapling device adequately supplied with staples.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved fastener feed construction for a fastener driving device. a

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved magazine construction for use with a fastener driving device which will accommodate a large number `of staples.

Yet another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a new and improved fastener advancing mechanism for use with a power-operated fastener driving device. a i

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved magazine construction for use with a poweroperated fastener driving device wherein a large number of staples detachably connected in strips may be stored and fed into the drive track of the device.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this speciication.

l In accordance with these and other objects, there is provided an improved fastener feed construction for use with a fastener driving device of the type having a driver reciprocaoly operable in a drive track during a driving and return stroke for forcing staples, detachably supplied to the drive track in an elongated strip or stick of staples, into a workpiece during a driving stroke of the driver.

The improved fastener feed construction includes an elon- ICC gated staple track positioned to deliver staples to the drive track of the device for driving engagement by the driver. A track guide is closely positioned around the track to guide the staples for sliding movement along the track with the legs of the staples positioned on opposite sides of the track and the bight portion or crownof the staples slidably supported on the track. A staple feed bin, which may be of the gravity type, is provided for receiving elongated strips of detachably secured staples in sideby side relation. The strips of staples are discharged transversely from thebin against a stop and guide means are provided interconnecting the bin and the stop with the staple feed track for receiving a strip of staples discharged from the bin and advancing the strip onto the staple feed track. A continuously driven fastener advancing mechanism is provided resiliently biasing the staples in the guide into and toward the discharge end of the feed track and, at the same time, for advancing sticks of staples discharged from the bin in driving engagement along the guide.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing wherein: i

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective View, somewhat schematic, of a magazine construction according to the present invention with certain portions cut away;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional eleva-tional view of the advancing means of the magazine construction of FIG. l, drawn to a` larger scale, and illustrated in one of its operating p ositions;`

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, 'but showing the advancing means in another of its operating positions; and i FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view `of the advancing means of the magazine construction of FIG. 1.

The magazineconstruction and staple advancing mechanism according to the present invention may be used with a fastener driving device of the type having a` driver blade reciprocably operable in a drive track of the device during a driving and return stroke. The staple driving device more specically may be of the pneumatically operated type, many of which are well known in the art, and may comprise a pneumatically operated fastener driving apparatus of the type disclosed in the copending application of Oscar A. Wandel, Serial No. 832,800, tiled August 10, 19.59, now Patent No. 3,099,012, which copending application is assigned to the same assignee as the present application. In these prior pneumatically operated devices, there is provided a cylinder secured to a casing or housing which is closed at its upper end. A piston slidably mounted within the cylinder is drivingly connected to the driver blade. When compressed air is admitted to the interior of the cylinder under the control of a trigger actuatedcontrol valve, the piston moves downwardly to advance the fastener driverblade through the drive track of the device. During this downward movement, the end of the driver blade engages the crown portion of a fastener in the drive track severing the fastener from the remainder of the strip of the detachably connected staples and drives the staple out of the drive track into the workpiece. When the trigger controlled valve is released, spring or other means return the piston to the normal position, thus retracting the driver blade from the drive track so that the advancing mechanism supplies another fastener to the drive track. One such pneumatically operated fastener driving tool or device is fragmentarily illustrated `at 10 in FIG. 1.` The pneumatically operated fastener driving device 10 conventionally includes an elongated staple track 11 positioned in the fastener driving device 10 to deliver staples to a forward discharge end thereof into` the` drive track of the fastener driving device 10 for drivingengagernent by the driver blade thereof. The staple track 11 may be enclosed by a magazine or housing 12 supported from a rear portion u of the fastener driving device 10 and positioned to enclose at least the portion of the staple track 11 adjacent the drive track of the stapling tool. The staples are conventionally supplied in elongated sticks or strips 16 of adhesively secured staples arranged in a well-known manner.

To provide a supply of staples for feeding along the feed -track 11 of the fastener driving device 10, the magazine construction according to the present invention includes storage means consisting of a gravity feed bin 1S which supports a large number of strips 16 of staples. The gravity feed bin 18 is of generally channel shape formed with a bight portion 16a and a pair of leg portions 135. Moreover, each of the leg portions 1S!) is provided with an inwardly turned lip or guide 18e to form a ibin track 18d receiving the strips 16 of staples in oriented relation with their legs extending toward the bight portion 18a of the bin 18. The gravity feed bin 13, moreover, has a vertically inclined or extending portion 13e and a horizontally extending portion 18f interconnected by a smoothly curved wall portion 18g. The horizontally extending portion 18f terminates in an upwardly extending lip 19 forming a stop means for engaging the lowermost one of the strips 16 of staples in the bin 1S thereby positioning the entire stack of strips within the bin 1S. The sticks 16 of staples are fed by gravity and discharged transversely of the bin 18 against the stop 19. The curved portion 18g of the bin 13 is effective to turn the strips 16 of staples so that they rest in inverted position against the stop 19 with their legs extending downwardly.

Y 1n order to advance the bottommost one of the strips 16 of staples along the feed track 11 of the fastener driving device 1?, there is provided a guide means or member generally indicated at 21 and a staple advancing mechanism generally indicated at 22. The guide member 21 is spaced slightly from the discharge end of the bin 18 and interconnects the bin 18 and the feed track 11 for receiving a strip 16 of staples delivered from the bin and for advancing the strip onto the staple feed track 11. The end of the guide member 21 adjacent the bin 18 is tapered slightly so as to receive strips 16 of staples which may be slightly misaligned as they are fed from the bin 18.

To transfer strips 16 of staples from the bin 18 onto the guide member 21, the staple advancing mechanism 22 includes a somewhat resilient O-ring or belt 24 supported by a driven pulley 25 and an idler pulley 26 and positioned to frictionally engage the side of a stick or strip 16 of staples resting against the stop 19. The -driven pulley 25 is continuously driven through a gear train including a pair of bevel gears 27 and 28 by a continuously operating electric motor 29. The motor 29 is effective to drive the bevel gears 27 and 23 to rotate the driven pulley Z5.

In order continuously to bias the strips 16 of staples toward the magazine 12 containing the feed track 11 of the fastener driving device 16, the staple advancing mechanism 22 additionally includes a friction drive biasing apparatus 30, best illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawing. The friction drive apparatus 36 includes a staple driving wheel 31 rotatably mounted at one end of a rocker link 32. The other' end of the link 32 is pivotally mounted about a shaft 33 from a fixed portion 34 of the staple advancing mechanism 22. The staple driving wheel 31 is biased downwardly by a tension spring 35 so that an outer rim or frictional surface 31a, formed of high friction somewhat resilient material, such as rubber, is biased into frictional driving engagement with the crown of the staples in the strip 16 of staples passing through the advancing mechanism Z2.

For resiliently driving the staple driving wheel 31 at a constant driving pressure, there is provided a bevel aan gear assembly 37 including a bevel gear 38 in driven engagement with the bevel gear 27 and additionally including -a hub portion 39. The bevel gear assembly 37 is mounted from the rocker link 32 for rotation concentrically with the staple driving wheel 31. A tension spring di) drivingly interconnects the staple driving wheel 31 and the bevel gear assembly 37. Specifically, one end of the tension spring d@ is connected to a pin 42 extending from the side wall of the staple driving wheel 31 and the other end of the tension spring d@ is connected to another pin t3 extending from the hub portion 39 of the bevel gear assembly 37. Normal driving operation between the bevel gear assembly 37 and the staple driving wheel 31 takes place through the tension spring dit, as illustrated in FIG. 2; however, the pins d2 and A53 are positioned on an interfering path so that there is provided a solid contact drive to provide for positive slippage of the staple driving wheel 31 on the crown of the staple strip 16 after the spring 46 has been stretched a predetermined amount.

From the above detailed description, the operation of the improved magazine construction and staple transfer mechanism is believed clear. However, briefly, it will be understood that staples are loaded into the bin 18 oriented with their legs extending toward the bight portion thereof so that as the strips 16 of staples move downwardly in the bin 13 under the intiuence of gravity, the lowermost strip cornes into engagement with the stop 19 at the bottom of the bin 18 with the spaced legs of its staples extending downwardly. Moreover, the staple strips 16 are advanced from this position longitudinally along the guide member 21 and onto the staple feed track 11 of the fastener driving device 10. This advancement is accomplished by the staple advancing mechanism 22, and, more specifically, the constant speed motor 29 is effective through the bevel gears 27 and 2S to drive the bevel gear assembly 37 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FlGS. 1, 2 and 3. The bevel gear assembly is effective through the tension spring 4t? to apply a constant pressure driving force to the staple strip 16 passing under it through engagement of the frictional surface 31a with the crown portion of the staples in the strip. The tension spring 35 is effective to bias and maintain the staple driving wheel 31 in driving engagement with the staple strips 16.

The constant pressure `drive is particularly desirable in order to provide the step-by-step or intermittent advancement of the staple strips 16 through the staple fastening device 16 in response to the driving operation thereof by the constant speed motor 2%. The spring acts in a sense as a lost-motion connection between the bevel gear assembly 3'7 and the staple driving wheel 31 so that the bevel gear assembly 37 may be continuously driven and the staple driving wheel 31 will rotate step-by-step in response to intermittent advancement of the strips 16 of staples at the completion of a driving stroke. The strips 16 of staples in the magazine 12, of course, remain stationary during the driving stroke. Moreover, the constant speed motor 29 is driven at a speed slightly in excess of the necessary speed to feed the staples in order to insure a continuous positive biasing force on the staples by the spring 46. Excessive overdrive of the motor 29 is compensated by slippage of the frictional surface 31a on the staple strip 16 through the pin-to-pin engagement of the pins 4Z and 43, as illustrated in FG. 3. In one specific embodiment of `a magazine construction built in accordance with the instant invention, the motor Z9 ran at a continuous speed of nine revolutions per minute.

ln order to advance the staple strips 16 from the bin into the guide means 21, the motor 29 is effective through the bevel gears 27 and 28 to drive the driven pulley 25 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 4, thereby to drive the O-ring boit 24 which frictionally engages the strip 16 of staples delivered from the bin 1S against the stop 19. The strips 16 sequentially advance ansaaao soon as the preceding strip 16 clears the forward or right edge of the bin, as viewed in FIG. 1. Accordingly, the strips 16 of staples fall in step-by-step relation sequentially against the stop 19 to be driven by the staple advancing mechanism 22 to the guide 21. Moreover, the` motor 29 is effective to slightly overdrive the O-ring belt Z4- to insure a positive bias of the staple strips 16 at all times. Slippage of the O-ring belt 24 is readily possible through the frictional slippage between the O-ring belt and the side of the strips 16.

Although the present invention has been described by reference to only a single embodiment thereof, it will be apparent that numerous other modifications and embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all modifications and embodiments which will fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A fastener feed construction for use with a fastener driving device of the type having fastener driving means operable to drive fasteners from an elongated strip of detachably connected `fasteners into a workpiece and comprising an elongated fastener feed track, the combination comprising means for storing and sequentially feeding elongated strips of detachably connected fasteners to said feed track comprising, a gravity feed bin for receiving a plurality of elongated strips of detachably connected fasteners in side-by-side relation and for delivering said strips sequentially from a position to one side of the axis of said feed track into a path coaxial with said feed track, stop means positioned to receive strips of fasteners as they are delivered from said bin into said path, guide means interconnecting said bin and said feed track for guiding strips of fasteners from against said stop means to said feed track, and fastener advancing mechanism resiliently driving strips lof fasteners from against said stop means along said guide means and resiliently biasing strips of fasteners in said guide means along said feed track.

2. A fastener feed construction for use with a fastener driving device of the type having fastener driving means operable to drive fasteners from an elongated strip of detachably connected fasteners into a workpiece, com prising fastener feed track means guiding said fasteners for sliding movement toward said fastener driving means, a gravity feed bin for receiving a plurality of elongated strips of detachably connected fasteners in side-by-side relation, stop means positioned to receive and position strips of fasteners as they are delivered sequentially from said bin, guide means interconnecting said bin and said feed track means for guiding strips of fasteners from said stop means to said feed track means, a fastener driving wheel provided with a frictional surface, means biasing said surface into frictional driving engagement with the strips of fasteners in said guide means, a gear assembly, resilient means resiliently interconnecting said gear assembly and said wheel to provide a lost-motion connection between said gear assembly and said wheel and to resiliently drive said wheel, a generally resilient belt positioned to frictionally engage one side of the strips of fasteners disposed against said stop means, and continuous drive means drivingly connected to continuously drive said gear assembly and said belt.

3. A staple feed construction for delivering strips of detachably connected staples to the staple feed track of a staple driving device comprising storage means :including a gravity feed bin for supporting a plurality of elongated strips of detachably connected U-shaped staples in orientated side-by-side relation with the legs of the staples disposed in a horizontal position one strip above the other, said gravity feed bin including means for rotating said strips through an angle of ninety degrees whereby the bottommost strip has the legs of the staples directed downwardly, stop means for engaging the bottommost strip of staples and resilient staple advancing means for engaging the legs on one side of said bottommost strip to advance said bottommost strip toward the staple feed track of said staple driving device.

4. A staple feed construction as set forth in claim 3 wherein said bin is of general channel shape cross section having legs with inwardly turned end portions to form a bin track adapted to receive a supply of strips of staples in side-by-side oriented relation. t

5. A staple feed construction `as set forth in claim 3 wherein said staple advancing means includes a continuously driven generally resilient belt frictionally engaging the side of a strip of staples against said stop means to drive said strip longitudinally beyond said bin so that another strip of staples will move by gravity against said stop means.

6. A fastener feed construction for successively supplying elongated strips of adhered fasteners to the feed track of a fastener driving device as the strip of fasteners on said feed track is depleted comprising a bin for storing strips of adhered fasteners and supplying the strips one at a time to a position coaxial with the strip on said feed track, strip advancing means including a pair of spaced pulleys and a generally resilient belt mounted on said pulleys, said pulleys being so positioned that said belt frictionally engages one side of the strip discharged from said bin to said position, a fastener driving wheel provided on its outer rim with a frictional surface, means biasing said surface into frictional driving engagement with the top of said strips when disposed intermediate said position and said feed track, Va gear assembly concentrically mounted relative to said wheel, spring means resiliently interconnecting said gear assembly and said wheel to provide a lost-motion connection between said gear assembly and said wheel, and drive means drivingly connected for continuously driving both said gear assembly and one of said pulleys.

7. A fastener feed construction as set forth in claim 6 including first and second means extending from said gear assembly and said wheel, respectively, said first and second means arranged in an interfering path with respect to one another to provide a positive drive between said gear assembly and said wheel.

8. A fastener feed construction as set forth in claim 7 wherein said spring means interconnects said rst and second means.

9. A fastener feed construction as set forth in claim 6 wherein said drive means drives said frictional surface and said belt at a greater speed than the rate of advancement of said strips of staples.

References Cited by the Examiner UNTED STATES PATENTS 939, 177 `11/09 Stickney. 1,981,467 11/34 Radtke 221-243 X 2,005,589 6/35 McCoy 221-236 2,103,387 12/37 Salfisberg 221-176 X 2,167,049 7/39 Maurath et al. 221-259 X 2,223,233 11/40 Snell 221--259 X 2,349,487 5/44 Davis 221-243 FOREIGN PATENTS 830,574 5/38 France.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner.

KENNETH N. LEIMER, Examiner. 

1. A FASTENER FEED CONSTRUCTION FOR USE WITH A FASTENER DRIVING DEVICE OF THE TYPE HAVING FASTENER DRIVING MEANS OPERABLE TO DRIVE FASTENERS FROM AN ELONGATED STRIP OF DETACHABLY CONNECTED FASTENERS INTO A WORKPIECE AND COMPRISING AN ELONGATED FASTENER FEED TRACK, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING MEANS FOR STORING AND SEQUENTIALLY FEEDING ELONGATED STRIPS OF DETACHABLY CONNECTED FASTENERS TO SAID FEED TRACK COMPRISING, A GRAVITY FEED BIN FOR RECEIVING A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED STRIPS OF DETACHABLY CONNECTED FASTENERS IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION AND FOR DELIVERING SAID STRIPS SEQUENTIALLY FROM A POSITION TO ONE SIDE OF THE AXIS OF SAID FEED TRACK INTO A PATH COAXIAL WITH SAID FEED TRACK, STOP MEANS POSITIONED TO RECEIVE STRIPS OF FASTENERS AS THEY ARE DELIVERED FROM SAID BIN INTO SAID PATH, GUIDE MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID BIN AND SAID FEED TRACK FOR GUIDING STRIPS OF FASTENERS FROM AGAINST SAID STOP MEANS TO SAID FEED TRACK, AND FASTENER ADVANCING MECHANISM RESILIENTLY DRIVING STRIPS OF FASTENERS FROM AGAINST SAID STOP MEANS ALONG SAID GUIDE MEANS AND RESILIENTLY BIASING STRIPS OF FASTENERS IN SAID GUIDE MEANS ALONG SAID FEED TRACK. 